Obama Scales Back Financial Regulatory Overhaul

Joe Weisenthal

Jun. 9, 2009, 6:01 AM

One of the big complaints about our regulatory system is that we have a lot of different bodies regulating different parts of the financial system and that the proverbial right hand doesn't know what the left one is doing.

So originally the plan was to kill and consolidate offices, creating a more centralized structure. But that plan's dead, says, WSJ. All the various offices from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to the CFTC will get to live and keep their purview, but in each case their ability to curtail risky activity will be expanded.

And where there are deemed to be gaps in the system -- and that means you, hedge funds -- will now be regulated in some form or another.

To some extent, we're guessing that the surprising market rally and the recapitalization of the banking sector, took away the impetus for major action, though we doubt the administration would cede that it's efforts -- which will be unveiled June 17th -- are somehow less ambitious.

Democrats are also likely to push for a new, consumer-oriented, regulator, a la the one Elizabeth Warren has pushed for, protecting individuals against confusing financial products. This seems uncontroversial enough for Washington and should pass.